Kyiv art center Closer has found itself in trouble due to governmental restrictions for public events and severe administrative debts. During quarantine, the owners suffered losses of almost 5 million hryvnias. In order to survive through this period the club’s team need to raise around EUR 17 000 before the 20th of December. And later, an additional EUR 17 000 before the 1st of March.

In order to keep the venue afloat through the pandemic Closer has shared a fundraising campaign aimed at fundraising costs to pay for ongoing costs such as rent, electricity, security and salaries compensations. According to the latest information, the team has already managed to collect 30% of the needed amount.

Closer is offering rewards in exchange for donations. These include free tickets to the events hosted by the club. 

Closer was opened in 2013 in Nyzhnoyurkivska 31. Over the years, the art center has become one of the most important hubs of local culture by launching acclaimed festivals like Strichka, Brave Factory, Am I Jazz. The team also expanded the venue with Closer Record Shop and held a variety of musical events which have been complementing the musical landscape of Kyiv for years.

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More details here.

Diana Azzuz & Rina Priduvalova are a recently formed Kyiv-based duo. First met in autumn 2019, they released their first collaborative project Hyperreal in December 2019. It explored the idea of music and video being pieced together as autonomous elements, whereas the track was written by Priduvalova and the video implemented Azzuz’s emotional response to it. For Hyperreal, Rina created a sound whilst Diana was working on the visual part.

Their new work “Now And Then” will be out on Standard Deviation and come as a part of forthcoming album Sui Noxa. In contrary to the previous project, the new audiovisual piece has become their first attempt to create visual and sound together. 

The album will comprise of a digital and physical release and include a 15-minute video that brings a closer look on the common neglect of self responsibility in the digital age. Moreover, the duo produced a limited series of 3-D printed jewelry which will come along Sui Noxa. 

Sui Noxa will be out on October 30. 

Find more info about the label here.

Simo Cell is a producer and DJ. He shines through his ability to mix genres, ingeniously switching from drum'n'bass to trap, from techno to experimental music.

Abdullah Miniawy is a vocalist, member of Munich-based collective Carl Gari, artist and spokesperson for the Egyptian revolt. He has been involved in various artistic projects including music, theater and poetry questioning violent political regimes.

Simo Cell and Abdullah Miniawy began collaborating in 2018, jamming and experimenting together at Simo’s studio in the suburbs of Paris. Simo’s hypermodern, hip-hop and bass-infused production skills and Abdullah’s vocals led to Kill Me Or Negotiate - a new collaborative album that will be released on BFDM this autumn. 

Kill Me Or Negotiate steers clear from normative club music to root deeper into socio-politically charged instrospection and thoughtful, elegiac body music. 

The release of Kill Me Or Negotiate is out digitally on October 16th. The vinyl release will follow on November 30th.

Tvii Son is a project of vocalist and writer Lucy Zoria, audiovisual artist Mika Shkurat and musician Florian Zimmer. The trio’s history has started out of Mika’s and Lucy’s collaboration for Nisantashi Primary School and Mika’s involvement in production of the video for Florian’s modular synth band called Driftmachine. 

The sound of self-titled album Tvii Son features hints of King Midas Sound and Pan Sonic and contains references to classic electroclash as well as dancehall and grime in the sprung rhythms of “Simple Ends” and “Kilang.”

The album will come out on September 18th on London-based label MIC and follows on from releases by LAPS, Lord Tusk, SunPalace. 

Listen here. 

SFX is a platform for audiovisual experiments curated by Alessandra Leone & Zoë Mc Pherson.

The new compilation XquisiteForce.collection/01 features tracks by Ciarra Black, ZULI, Glass, Holy Similaun, KMRU, Aho Ssan, ELLLL, Flore, Katie Gately, Bonebrokk, Gramrcy as well as Ukrainian musician John Object and DJ Kasimyn of Gabber Modus Operandi under his Hulubalang alias and many more. 

This compilation is a direct outcome of a collaborative audiovisual project of the artists which they have been putting together since March 2020, and which is still ongoing. Based on the Cadavre Exquis surrealists' game, each contributor was asked to  create a 1 min sequence in a period of 1 week, starting from the last sample/image from the previous contribution. 

All proceeds from sales of the compilation will go directly to two organisations in Beirut: Haven for Artists and Beit El Baraka. These two organisations are providing food and shelter and financial, medical and psychological assistance to those who suffered in the wake of the explosion on August 4th. 

More info here. 

The book contains the notes and drawings for the 2018 installation and album ORCORARA 2010 as well as the 1st printing of photos from the archives of Archivo Comunidad Diversidad of 60's-80’s outside of Bolivia.

Elysia Chuquimia Paula Crampton is an Amerindian Aymara electronic musician, producer, poet and composer. Her work touches upon themes of Aymara survival and Latinx culture, LGBT and its Aymara femme heritage, science fiction, references to Christian faith and ontology.

The book is available for purchase via this link. 

Kyiv club ∄ also known among locals as “club on Kyrylivska street” announced a new label project called Standard Deviation.

Standard Deviation is a newly formed, multidisciplinary label platform, working on the intersection of music, art and publishing. The main goal behind the label is to build bridges between Ukrainian and global creative scenes as well as to support emerging artists.

The first installment features a split EP with Turkish-born based between Berlin and Copenhagen Nene H and Ukraine's Poly Chain.

The record will be out September 25th on vinyl 12” and digital formats.

Recently, the Belarusian rave promo group МЕЧТА published a new mix from musician and DJ Raketka. She admits: "Last podcast recorded during island isolation for a very surreal rave in Minsk. It was waiting for a historical pick moment for our country... and it is happening NOW."

Belarus held presidential elections on August 9. Immediately after the announcement of the preliminary results, according to which the longstanding president Lukashenko gained 80%, protests erupted across the country. The Belarusian authorities are brutally suppressing protests, beating people, torturing detainees. In four days, more than 7,000 people were arrested, more than 250 were hospitalized and one person died.

You can support the victims via the following link.

Berlin-based collective Syntop has launched a campaign Wave of Hope for the Future aimed to draw attention to the severe situation in the refugee camps at the borders of Europe.

For six weeks, Syntop has been publishing podcasts from electronic musicians and DJ’s on their Soundcloud page in order to raise money for the initiative. The participants of the series include Ben UFO, Jensen Interceptor, Nene H, Gabber Eleganza, Mama Snake, JASSS. The last podcast of the series is scheduled for Aug 8 and will feature Varg. 

Wave of Hope for the Future is an initiative created by refugees for other refugees in the camps. The organisation strives to improve their standard of living and tackles with major social and economical problems. 

You can support Wave of Hope for the Future here.

The new mix by Dima Nikolaienko for Lyon-based LYL radio is a collection of unreleased and old music from musician’s personal archive. The selection features artists of his label Muscut, such as Ukrainian band Chillera and the solo projects of its members Mlin Patz and Bryozone, Andrew Pekler, Wrong Water, Papiro, a composition by Valentina Goncharova from Recordings 1987-1991, Vol. 1 released on a sublabel of Muscut Shukai, as well as music by fellow musicians.

Dima Nikolaienko is a Ukrainian musician, founder of Muscut and co-founder of its sublabel Shukai. The first release on Muscut came out in 2012. Since then, the musician has released around 20 vinyls. By exploring the broad meaning of “hauntology” in music, Dima has managed to create one of the most intriguing projects on the music map of Ukraine. 

Read more about the label here. 

London-based selector, dancehall expert and NTS resident Felix Hall celebrated the launch of his new imprint Chrome with Acid Hall release by Edison Electric.

Acid Hall is an almost mythical early 00's dancehall release, featuring an extended extended instrumental version of the title track alongside two differently mixed vocal cuts on the flip. 

As Boomkat admits, Acid Hall is a “total anomaly, a Dancehall x Acid intersection that spawned countless vocal versions and became a genre all of its own."

Find more information on Boomkat.

Pep Gaffe is focused on developing music community by consolidating Ukrainian musicians, DJs, artists and professionals from different fields. Pep Gaffe curators are in charge of eponymous label, they regularly arrange music events and discover new talents. 

The second release of Pep Gaffe is produced by Anthony Junkoid, a media-researcher who is interested in occult practices, ufology, cryptozoology, new media, unpopular music, etc. Between Body & Soul is a 90 min mixtape released in a limited edition of 35 cassette tapes. As artist admits, the release is full of “after trip music to fill your internal dusk between a warm heart beating & a cold soul gleaming.” 

Click here to listen and order.

The discussion Black Techno Futures: Local and Global Perspectives, hosted under new educational program of the festival, will take place online on July 23. Including perspectives from different cities, this discussion will explore the conditions of working as a black person in dance music, diving into challenges and how things need to change for black people to survive and flourish. 

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The discussion is programmed and hosted by Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson from Discwoman, Bossa Nova Civic Club and Brooklyn’s Dweller Festival. Panelists include a DJ, producer and New World Dysorder co-founder Jasmine Infiniti, DJ, promoter, label owner and agent Lerato Khathi aka Lakuti, a queer diasporic Somali activist Axmed Maxamed, a DJ, producer and artist from Uganda Authentically Plastic, DJ and producer from Rio de Janeiro Ønírica.

Éditions Appærent, recently founded by musicians and longtime collaborators Jesse Osborne-Lanthier, Pierre Guerineau and Will Ballantyne, has already announced the first of a trilogy of albums by Bernardino Femminielli and debut record of Pierre Guerineau L’eau par la soif under the name Feu St-Antoine. 

Named after historical cases of mass hallucinations in French villages, Feu St-Antoine’s music reflects the subjectivity of reality, both as a personal and socio-political construct.

Bernardino Femminielli, in turn, has prepared his first 2020 LP L’Exil. L’Exil, the album, the performance, the satire, took shape after the arrest of Bernardino by American border authorities during his US tour in 2018. 

The multidisciplinary approach of the label is embodied in formats, design, as well as other mediums such as merchandise or video. So, in addition to the Femminielli’s release label dropped limited edition t-shirts. The t-shirt features the artist's mugshot, and his US customs document as a result of his expulsion from the United States. 

More info on Bandcamp. 

Polish artist Aleksandra Słyż presented a video for the track ‘BGIII’ of her debut album Human Glory on Pointless Geometry. In her music, Aleksandra searches for connections between the human body, sound and technology and embodies these connections into interactive, multimedia art. 

The release was created with the use of movement sensors, which enable the sound recording of choreography, whilst the poignant emotional experience was generated through drone synthesizer parts. 

Pointless Geometry was founded in Warsaw in 2015 by Justyna Banaszczyk aka FOQL, and Darek Pietraszewski aka VJ Copy Corpo. Pointless Geometry showcases Polish music scene and features releases from the likes of WIDT, Mchy and Porosty, Jakub Lemiszewski, FOQL, Fischerle, Jakub Gliński and Muka.

Video: Maks Posio

A digital diaspora community, a multi-disciplinary label and network of Asian artists, Chinabot announced a new release Absolute C.O.U.P. by musician and visual artist Pisitakun.

Absolute C.O.U.P. is an attempt to comprehend the long history of of coup d’états and democratic suppression in Thailand, and a strong statement about human freedom under a police state. 

“Since I was born I witnessed three different coups: in 1991, 2006 and 2014. The question is stuck in my mind: Why do we have so many coups?” says Pisitakun. 

Using hard techno, molam, military marching beats, Thai Pop and traditional Thai instrumentation, Pisitakun evokes the feeling of aggression and noncompliance that is common for political confrontation. 

Absolute C.O.U.P. includes remixes from Gabber Modus Operandi, Elvin Brandhi and MSHR and will be released on a gold bullet-shaped USB and Cassettes. 

The release will be out on Chinabot on July 29 2020. 

Every month, PAN hosts a residency on NTS with which its founder Bill Kouligas presents his take on modern experimental music. The shows create a meeting point for not only genres and styles, but also aesthetic and cultural codes, worldwide views on rhythm and dance.  

After a long break Bill Kouligas returns with a selection of new music, ranging from ambient to leftfield techno, jungle, by Nick Leon, GRRl, Debba, Daemon and many others. 

Rhythmanalyst, media theorist and curator DeForrest Brown Jr. released Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry on Planet Mu. Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry is an album of street-level fire music exploring poet Tsitsi Ella JajiI’s concept of “stereomodernism.” It’s a second release of DeForrest Brown Jr. as Speaker Music for Planet Mu. It channels the modernist Black tradition of rhythm and soul music as an intellectual site and sound of generational trauma, bursting through the frames of Western music and thought. Planet Mu called Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry “one of the most important albums you’ll hear this year.”

A PDF booklet of collected writings by Black theorists and poets provides further context featuring 'Amerikkka’s Bay' written and spoken by Maia Sanaa, and remixed by Brown, Jr.

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All label profits from this release will be donated to BEAM and M4BL.

More info on Bandcamp.

Today, from midnight to midnight Pacific Time, Bandcamp is waiving its share of sales to support artists impacted by Covid-19. Following the recent tragic events - the murders of George Floyd and the wave of global protests against racial discrimination - Bandcamp as well as concerned musicians from around the world call to use this opportunity to support their favorite black artists.

Here is a short link to the spreadsheet of black artists and black-owned labels on Bandcamp.  

Also, today some musicians will donate their revenue of sales to black led initiatives, organisations, and bail funds. The initiative has been already joined by Caterina Barbieri, Lyra Pramyk and her label Bedroom Community, Club Chai, selection of Polish labels, and many others.

The next revshare-free Friday is June 19. Bandcamp will be donating 100% of their share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. More info here.

The Dutch DJ, producer and Artificial Dance label boss Olf van Elden aka Interstellar Funk has dropped a curated compilation Artificial Dancers – Waves Of Synth comprising of carefully selected wave music artifacts from the last 40 years, ranging from 1978 to 2018. 

The record is a result of digging through dusty old records, tapes as well as the Bandcamp accounts of DIY musicians who have been producing unique examples of coldwave, electro, EBM and synth music. 

Artificial Dancers – Waves Of Synth features The Human League’s ‘4JG’, a 1982 live version of Liaisons Dangereuses’ ‘Dias Cortas’ – previously only available on VHS – and a demo version of Clan of Xymox’s ‘Stranger’. Besides legends, Interstellar Funk has also chosen to showcase tracks by a range of DIY producers and lesser-known artists. These include Californian band Batang Frisco, Matthias Schuster’s Im Namen Des Volkes project and Zahgurim, who reunited in 2018 to record their first new material since 1983. 

Artificial Dancers – Waves Of Synth was released on May 25 via Rush Hour. 

Find more info about the release on the Bandcamp page of the label. 

Two years after the first appearance of Lithuanian musician Gediminas Jakubka aka Patricia Kokett on the Amsterdam label Knekelhuis, its founder Mark van de Maat has dropped the next edition, a long-awaited debut album of the artist called Bizarr.  

The narrative of the album is built around Patricia Kokett’s trip to the annual Nine Emperors Festival in Phuket. As a result, Bizarr is the sonic exploration of Thai ritual culture as well as the reflection on transcendence and cathartic experience.

Find more information on the official bandcamp page of the label.

Greek composer Dimitris Papadatos aka Jay Glass Dubs is giving a glimpse of his forthcoming album Soma for Berceuse Heroique. The album sampler comprises of the track 'Shape' recorded in collaboration with vocalist Jasmine and a remix of Bristol producer Hodge. The sound of 'Shape' invokes the spirit of Tricky, the fragile beauty of the Italian Minimalists and the other-worldness of the late Mark Hollis. Hodge on the other hand delivers a different flavour of raw Bristol vibes.

As Hodge admits on Twitter, the remix is his first attempt to make a jungle track.

Soma LP Sampler is available on bandcamp page of the label.

Listen to a podcast by Jay Glass Dubs for Tight Is 2 Takeover.

HAJJ is a visual artist and composer, co-founder of the record label Dawn, Souffrance FM host on LYL radio, follower of Schnell Records, a collective that develops Dadaist music.

Recently BFDM posted an announcement of HAJJ’s debut release Dédicace à Personne. The EP consists of 3 tracks ‘I Tried To Tell Ya Something Through This Fucking Phone,’ ‘My love is rotten to the core’ and ‘Dad Is Destroying The World For My Sake.’

‘My love is rotten to the core’ was first released for HaJJ’s A/V live show in order to create the soundtrack of the atmospheric film he made about his home town. ‘My love is rotten to the core’ is a direct reference to Tim Hecker’s album of the same name which is also taken from a line of Van Halen's major hit ‘Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love’.  

Dédicace à Personne arrives on BFDM on May 18. 

After releasing a split tape with Russell Haswell, dropping the first album I.L.S via Lorenzo Senni’s label Presto!?, teaming up with Mark Fell and presenting iconic album Unfold, Hungarian producer Gábor Lázár goes even further with his new full-length album Source.

The release features Gábor’s unique take on the music he grew up listening to - trance, 2-step, IDM and bass music. The title track arrives with a video from director Lőrinc Borsos. 

Source will be released on June 26 via Planet Mu.

Read more about the sound of Gabor Lazar in Tanya Akinola’s interview for Tight. 

Photo: Vitaliia Zhyriakova

Amnesia Scanner will drop their second LP ‘Tearless’ on June 5th via PAN. The collective founded by Ville Haimala and Martti Kalliala see their new release as “a sonic reflection of how it feels to experience Earth at a time when collapse is emerging as the prevailing narrative,” and find Tearless “a breakup album with the planet.”

The ten-track album features collaborations with Peruvian artist Lalita, Brazilian DJ and producer LYZZA as well hardcore punk band Code Orange. The visual identity of the release is curated by PWR studio.

In the celebration of 2nd birthday, Tight is taking over Kyiv-based 20ft radio for a 16-hour broadcast spanning 18 shows of artists from all over the globe.

The program will include DJ sets, live sets, audiovisual shows featuring Jay Glass Dubs and his quasi band Wild Terrier, Nyege Nyege Tapes artist DJ Diaki and his take on Malian street party music, HDMIRROR with exclusive live and visual material, residents of Shanghai SVBKVLT label Gabber Modus Operandi and Zaliva-D, as well as a selection of Ukrainian musicians like John Object, Diana Azzuz and Rina Priduvalova, Sztvo and many others. 

‘Tight is 2 takeover’ will go out live on April 11 at 9 AM (Kyiv Time) via 20ft radio website. 

Line-up:
Diana Azzuz & Rina Priduvalova A/V
DJ Diaki
Emma DJ
Gabber Modus Operandi live 
HDMIRROR live A/V
Jay Glass Dubs 
John Object live 
Katarina Gryvul live
Mai Nestor
Morgiana Hz 
Sasha Tessio
Sim Hutchins A/V
Sztvo live 
upsammy
Voin Oruwu
Zaliva-D live
Zolaa live
ZULI 

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Artwork: Snizhana Chernetska

Santé Records is a French music label mostly focused on ambient, kraut and art rock, psyche, lo-fi, post music. The label has quickly found its niche in the field of avant-garde and experimental music by releasing such artitsts as QDRPD, PEANUTS and Adrien Pallot. 

Next in line is a French experimental band Glass which will deliver the new EP ‘L.U.C.A.’ for Santé on 8 April 2020. Drawing inspiration from UK scene and labels like UIQ, Hyperdub and Modern Love, Glass create cinematic soundscapes and combine them with glitchy drums and soft synth pads.

“With their new EP 'L.U.C.A', Glass can be considered as architects. Their music is heavily conceptualized and meticulously designed. Once produced, this alternative electronic music sounds natural, immersive and singular,” says the label.

This week, the team of Unsound festival was supposed to announce the theme and the list of first artists for the upcoming festival edition, but due to current situation in the world, the announcement was put on hold.

In the official statement, Unsound urges everyone to support each other: 

“If you can help someone in this time, do so. Buy the music of artists. If you have been refunded a ticket to an event that was forced to cancel, consider donating that amount to the organisers and/or artists involved. 

 Of course, not everyone is in a financial position to do that, but everyone healthy is in a position to help others in need in other ways at this time, especially those who are elderly or unwell.

 Our theme for Unsound 2019 was Solidarity - in 2020, the word is more important than ever.”

Swedish label iDEAL Recordings has released the new record by an English musician, best known as the drummer in Slowdive Simon Scott. For iDEAL Recordings, Scott presents his new ‘Index' project. Index is supposed to be an outlet for already familiar noisy textures as well as musician’s brand new sound based on drone and ambient.

Recorded in Los Angeles between 2016 and 2019, debut album ‘Kainos’ is inspired by the world’s current state of chaos. The release features non-musical and conceptual inspiration taken from the turmoil of Brexit and includes recordings of the Houses of Parliament, radical feminist scientific writing of Donna Haraway, and the conceptual vigour of Luigi Russolo’s Futurist manifesto ‘The Art of Noises’.

Gabber Eleganza is a musical project curated by Alberto Guerrini. Originally launched as a blog and tool to collect artifacts of hardcore aesthetics and post-rave continuum cultures, Gabber Eleganza has later been expanded to a broader spectrum of mediums such as DJ Sets, publications, exhibitions and live performances.

As producer admits, the label is “an organic step after seeing the original Gabber Eleganza archival project grow into a multi-platform endeavour.”

On 31 March Never Sleep is going to deliver a first release from London called 'Molto Crudo' via Brazil & Russia producer Lizzitsky. Molto Crudo is a tribute to digitised 90’s Italian Trance melodies, sped up reggaeton snare rushes and post-hard core vocal manipulation.

Listen to Molto Crudo preview on bandacamp.

The container radio which feeds itself through donations and great enthusiasm of Misha Bondariev, David Shamiev, Vitaliy Nemchenko, Dima Isaenko and Kyrylo Nechyporuk announced the fundraiser company in order to upgrade the summer terrace as well as to pay for rent and electricity bills.

20ft radio has been existing for 4 years and has become an important point on the musical map of Kyiv providing both international acts and young Ukrainian artists with a platform for self-expression. Moreover, it has also been a place of gathering and communication of various creative communities of the country. 

Support project: 

monobank: 5375 4141 0502 2270

paypal: www.paypal.com/paypalme2/20ftdonate

New edition of ‘The Wednesday Alternative Mix’ is a sonic trip through various styles and influences of BFDM honcho Judaah. The selection varies from ambient and dub to ghetto tech and dancehall, and as Judaah admits in the interview ’it’s cut for the gym, crossfit or for the Apéro before going to the club.’

Also, he revealed some plans for BFDM and its sub label Homemade Soundsystem. First of all, curator means the big project of Simo Cell and Abdullah Miniawy, the long-awaited debut release of HAJJ as well as new record of JZBEL and The Pilotwings.

The release ‘Sonic Resistance: A Compilation For Rojava’ of Kashev Tapes and Polish platform Oramics comprises of 91 tracks from such producers as Eomac, ANFS, Olivia, Melania., Ngly, Doc Sleep, Black Acid, Xhin, DON'T DJ, Varg. Contributing artists also include Kyiv-based producer Poly Chain and  a resident of Odesa-based organization Cистема Gael. The album was released as a reaction to targeted violence on the autonomous region Rojava located in northeastern Syria and aims to raise awareness of Kurdish movement fighting for gender equality, LGBTQIA+ rights and Democratic confederalism.

"The revolution in Rojava shows us how deeply entangled we are in postcolonial relations and motivates us to deconstruct existing conditions and structures. That’s how we understand being an ally. Because the war against equality and freedom is a war against all of us," says the label.

Click here for more information.

Urvakan Festival, which takes its name from the Armenian word for ‘ghost’, returns to Yerevan to breathe life into the forgotten, ‘ghostlike’ architecture and cultural heritage of the city.

The second edition will feature a 6-day programme curated by experimental musician Rabih Beaini, booking agent Brandon Rosenbluth of Little Big, Oakland-based event series and label Club Chai and Moscow-based groups including experimental music events promoter TKANI and labels GOST ZVUK and Klammklang. Aside from music, the festival’s street art programme will be curated by STFNV. Art exhibitions are to be organised by syg.ma.

Urvakan’s line-up traditionally shaped to erase geographic and stylistic boundaries. The list features a multi-disciplinary artist, producer and DJ 8ULENTINA, singer-producer MSYLMA, avant-garde composer Ellen Arkbro, Felicity Mangan exploring the physical sound qualities of animal field recordings as well as contemporary Ukrainian musicians such as Chillera, Poly Chain, Lobanov K., Voin Oruwu.

Urvakan goes down 5-9 May at various historical spots around Yerevan. More info here.

François Boulanger dropped a self-release titled ‘Good Room’ comprising of 8 solo tracks. The album is different from everything the musician has previously produced, but the only thing that has remained unchanged is the melancholy sound which already became iconic for ssaliva.

As artist admits, the album was recorded a few days after a painful breakup in the country side of Liege next to a fire place. Most of the album is sample based. François is using the chopped and screwed technique which is common for hip-hop, but instead of hip hop he is taking on American indie rock of 90's and turning the sounding into the direction of shoegaze.

François Boulanger also announced that he created a band and has an ambition to present this album live.

Editions Gravats is a French label runned by Jean Carval and Philippe Hallais aka Low Jack. Since its launch in 2014, the label has been releasing solo records by Jean and Philip as well as supporting local musicians like Zaltan, Black Zone Myth Chant, lueke, Krikor Kouchian.

New cassette release from French trap producer and beat maker King Doudou called 'yin - yang Street Mix' is a 30-min recording comprising of King Doudou’s edits of tracks from Eiffel 65, Faithless, Bad Gyal, DJ Blass, Ms Nina, Culture Beat, Floorfilla, 666, La Zowi, Alice Deejay, Lil Pump, and many more. The tape git sold-out immediately, but the label owners did not make us wait and shared the digital version on label’s Soundcloud page.

Running from January 17 to March 14 at Traumabarundkino, QT UR EA is an installation and exhibition of multimedia artist and sculptor Mary-Audrey Ramirez and CGI artist LUKAS8K.

QT UR EA is an environment by Mary-Audrey Ramirez and LUKAS8K incorporating installation, performance, motion-capture and real-time virtual worlds. The title QT UR EA refers to a place (EA), its civilization (UR), and the perceptible reality (QT). As artists admit, over an 8 week period, this multi-dimensional artwork will transform the Traumabarundkino art space into an alien world – a science fiction narrative derived from the mechanics and language of open world video games.

QT UR EA will feature collaborators such as choreographer Ali Heffetz and audiovisual artists Alza54 and Simon Goff. Moreover, within the context of QT UR EA Traumabarundkino and BORSHCH Magazine will host a joint event inspired by the latest ‘Dark Side’ issue.

Photo: Kitty Lee Schumacher

‘.als’ is a new release of Bio Future Laboratory by contemporary Ukrainian musician and co-creator of apipad.live media mixer Sasha Very. The release is an attempt to capture various plots, the characters of which are emotional states, psychological complexes and drivers of imagination. The author believes that each piece of music can become an autonomous unit, torn off the context, and each time captivate the listener with its content or resonance with the listener's background.

The musician’s thoughts on the cognitive perception of music were embodied in 4 audio tracks - ‘Sound of Superstition,’ ‘Gene Dealer,’ ‘Past 2.0,’ ‘Trying To Avoid Routine Is A Routine.’

You can listen and purchase the release on the bandcamp page of the label.

Artwork made by John Object.

Multimedia artist Zoë Mc Pherson announced the launch of SFX label curated in collaboration with Alessandra Leone. The label itself is a result of a three-year collaboration of Zoë and Alessandra on an audio-visual album called ’String Figures.’ With the new imprint, the artists are going to keep this approach and will focus not only on music, but also other forms of art.

The label has already revealed its first release - an album by Zoë Mc Pherson ‘States of Fugue.’ The artist explores ‘electro-naturalism’ by blending sharp, experimental techno with screams and sudden vocals whilst also mixing in brief ethereal respites.

The album will be released in late February, but now the preview is available on label’s official bandcamp page.

Cover design by Szilvia Bolla and Jonathan Castro.

The producer behind one of the most hotly discussed albums of last year Loraine James released an EP called ‘New Year's Substitution 2’. She teamed up with friends including patten, Shapednoise and Morwell to deliver a mini-album recorded in 7 days which you can now listen and buy on Bandcamp.

Read tight feature by Masha Ustimenko about Loraine here.

The founder of Cxema, Slava Lepsheev takes on tour through the modern music scene of Ukraine in a new NTS mix. The selection of artists includes well-known Stanislav Tolkachev and Voin Oruwu, as well as emerging players of the scene such as Ihor Okuniev, M. Tkachenko, Chas.

Besides local talents, Slava Lepsheev picked productions by friends and fellows from other countries such as Buttechno and M.E.S.H.

‘Hyperreal’ is the first video of the upcoming Ximena audiovisual album from musician Rina Priduvalova and visual artist Diana Azzuz.

According to the girls, Hyperreal is a way to stop the thought process as well as to convey ideas visually by appealing to intuitive reflection. The visual part of Hyperreal is Diana’s reaction to the music and lyrics of the track. While working on the video, she tried to transmit the essence of feelings that have been evoked by the music and lyrics into the physicality of forms that both weigh you down and give you lightness.

“While listening to the track, sometimes I just sat down and tried to grasp what was given to me visually. For me, it's comparable to drawing when you don’t know what exactly you want to depict at the moment, but the brush itself is guiding you. On the contrary, I had a rather specific symbolism that I wanted to share. So the result turned out to be quite abstract, but at the same time packed with symbols," says Diana Azzuz.

For Rina Priduvalova, Hyperreal is the first production after a long hiatus. As a core of the composition, Rina took the lyrics of Theo Jefferies and read it on top of the music.

HAJJ is a visual artist and composer, co-founder of the record label Dawn, Souffrance FM host on LYL radio, follower of Schnell Records - a collective that develops Dadaist music. Currently HAJJ is working on tracks for Dawn, PRR! PRR!, collaborates with BFDM and also making the script of his first film.

The new mix for Phormix comprises of tracks by My Sword, Gohda, Qoso, Ghostmane, Kalash Crimi, Alk, East Man and other tunes which reflect HAJJ's view on the modern club music.

The Munich-based band Carl Gari, together with the Egyptian musician and poet Abdullah Miniawy, presented live versions of ‘B’aj بعاج’ and the unreleased ‘A’tatni ع’. ‘B’aj بعاج’ is the title track of the album ‘The Act of Falling from the 8th Floor’ which Carl Gari and Abdullah released on Whities earlier this year. In the lyrics, Abdullah narrates about the process of falling from an eight-story building in his native city of Cairo. While falling he describes a unique scene happening on every balcony, painting a dark picture of Egyptian society.

Filmed & edited by Justin Urbach.

Photo: Manuel Nieberle.

Kӣr is the solo project of Branislav Jovančević, resident artist and program manager of Belgrade’s club Drugstore. In his productions, Branislav merges traditional and experimental influences in electro-acoustic music - drone, folk, obscure ambient, power-electronics and everything else that can evoke a feeling of disorientation and uncertainty.

His works are presented on such labels as Creme Organization and Yerevan Tapes whilst the upcoming ‘Balčak’ will be released on 1st of January  via DISK curated by Florian Mayer aka Dont DJ. The vinyl will comprise of 4 tracks which work great both for home listening and dancing in clubs.  

"All 4 tracks take it easy at first but will not let you off the hook until they are done with you!" notes Florian Mayer in the press-release.

On the 23rd of November at arkaoda Berlin, DISK will host a ‘Balčak’ pre-release party featuring live-sets by Jay Glass Dubs, Don't Dj and KӢR.

In the framework of TIGHT x Scene City collaboration, we invited one of the founders of Krossfingers Sasha Tessio to take part in a guest show on Noods Radio. Join an hour-long journey through the in-between spaces of new age and ambient.

Scene City is a Bordeaux platform created by Le Type magazine. Its founders decided to expand the scope of activities and created Scene City aimed to promote young artists as well as cultural exchange between European cities such as Belgrade, Bordeaux, Bristol, Tbilisi, Lisbon, Kiev, Lyon, Vilnius and Leipzig. In all mentioned cities, Scene City has  local representatives of the scene as partners including Belgrade’s Drugstore, Bristol’s Noods, Rádio Quântica from Lisbon, Lyon’s record store Chez Emile and others.

Shukai is a sub-label of Muscut specialized in reissuing rare and obscure music of Soviet television and film. In the beginning of the year the team of the label presented a debut vinyl ‘The Air Seller’ featuring Victor Vlasov's forgotten soundtracks for the movie ‘The Air Seller’.

Now Shukai is dropping a new release ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ comprising of the tracks by Vladimir Bystryakov for the animated film ‘Alice through the Looking Glass’ which has been broadcasting on Soviet television in 1982.

Shukai's limited vinyl series is a first attempt to conserve the music of the iconic Soviet film and present it to a wider audience of international listeners.

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The main theme of this year’s Unsound festival is solidarity. As organizers admit, the festival takes as a starting point the 30th anniversary of democratic elections in Poland, a result of protests that spread across Central and Eastern Europe.

Thirty years on, the festival will explore what solidarity means in local and global context, as well as its presence in music industry. How does music unite in a physical space and online? What impact does local scenes, collectives and movements have on the political and cultural context?  What forms might protest music take in 2019?

These and other issues will be incorporated in a panel and music program which include workshops, lectures, discussions, film screenings, concerts, audiovisual performances, live and DJ sets. Among the most interesting musical happenings, it's important to mention the return of the Ugandan festival Nyege Nyege with the sets from MCZO & Duke, Jay Mitta, Ant Virus, a tribute to Against Fascism Trax in a performance by Paula Temple and Optimo's JD Twitch, live by industrial project Dreamcrusher, b2b from ambassadors of Brazilian scene Badsista and Cashu as well as the show from MSYLMA feat. Zuli, Karim el Ghazoly and Omar El Sadek.

The festival takes place in Kraków from 6 – 13 October. Find more information and full programming here.